Hi all, thought some might find it interesting to hear about my recent play-through of a game I would consider to be a "hidden gem" on the Xbox 360 (and PS3) called Majin & the Forsaken Kingdom. From what I can gather, not too many people gave this game a shot which is truly a shame.

Majin had been sitting in my backlog of games for close to a year. I picked it up for cheap after seeing an Amazon deal on CAG and played it for around five minutes the day it arrived but quickly put it aside for whatever AAA title was the flavor of the month. Looking back, that was a mistake as completing Majin may be the most fun I've had with a game this year which has included some big-hitters like Mass Effect 3, Diablo 3, and Super Mario 3D Land.

With all the fluff out of the way...I'm not sure I've played a game in recent memory that has the same feeling of heart that Majin has. It's hard to describe in any other way, but this game feels like it was a labor of love from a development studio that didn't have the budget, time, or resources that many AAA studios possess. The graphics, voice acting, and music aren't particularly noteworthy when compared to the best this gen has to offer but what this game does is make you care about its characters, story, and world.

I would consider Majin an action/adventure game with a focus on exploration and puzzle solving. For those who enjoy combat, there is quite a bit of that as well but I think this is one of the weaker elements in the game. The core mechanic of the game centers around the relationship between the character you control directly, the thief, and the Majin, a giant friendly beast you command. Each character is vulnerable on their own and working together is required to solve puzzles, defeat enemies, etc.

For the collectors/completionists, there's plenty of secrets/goodies and multiple endings to be discovered but the game remains enjoyable for those who just want to play through the story. I completed the story in around 12-15 hours over the course of a week which is incredibly rare for given how busy life is. I find a lot of games feel like work to complete (feeling this way now about The Witcher 2) but Majin was a joy throughout.

Maybe I'm just tired of the "sequelitis" and "AAA model" the gaming industry seems to have adopted, but I would love to see more games like Majin. Sorry for the lack of real info as this post wasn't intended to be a review or in-depth analysis. Does anybody else have a overlooked hidden gem?